Our Adventures

We put our FREE lunchbox ideas to the test

Posted: 16 Aug 2013

So Niece and I wanted to put our allergy friendly 5
day lunchbox menu to the test (OK, maybe it was more
me. She was already won over by the circus moustache and
flapping napkin bird). We printed the sheets off and spent last
week testing the practicality of things: are the recipes easy
enough to follow? How long does it take to prepare? Can little
helpers join in? Or the all important: does it taste good and will
she eat it? It's all well and good having fun
adventures inside a lunchbox packed with healthy, nutritious food.
But if she wasn't going to eat it our efforts, whisking, chopping,
stirring and baking are wasted - and back we go to the drawing
board. Deflated.

Monday - The circus adventureThis felt like a winning box before Niece had even tried it.
We set up in the kitchen to make out first dish: popcorn balls for
the strong man's weight-lift bar. Note to self: buy my sister a
food processor before attempting this again. I had to chop
everything by hand - I hadn't anticipated this recipe would come
with a workout! Laughs filled the room though when niece piped up
"Can I test everything first to make sure it's OK?" (Spies a bag of
popcorn) Oh, to be a kid again I thought. We had great fun rolling
the mixture into balls together and placing them on cut down
straws. All in all, really easy recipe, and I imagine quick too
with a food processor. The 'free from' pasta dish got a big tick,
again simple and quick to prepare. The only thing that Niece wasn't
so keen on was the watermelon salad - no great surprises there
really, but we persevered. Top tip: You'll find the
watermelon provides an abundance of cubes so cut the watermelon in
half and freeze. It'll make a perfect picnic box cooler, that's
nicely chilled by the time everyone wants to dig in.

Tuesday - The farm adventurePolenta hay bales were a great alternative to a sandwich, I
thought and Niece was a big fan of them too. I've heard they
freeze really well (2-3 months) if you make a big batch. Has anyone
tried this? I had a bit of a hunt as I couldn't find the ready made
polenta so I made this from scratch which didn't take long at all,
thanks toMerchant Gourmet :) boasting a long list of
being gluten free, nut free and suitable for vegetarians and
vegans. The mango Lassi drink got our vote too - felt like a
milkshake with nutritional benefits. Two down, three to
go...

Wednesday - The Seaside adventureHere's where I have to fess up, by the time I got round to
creating the soup it was nearing the early hours of Wednesday
morning - 1am in fact. Had a bit of a crazy day on Allergy
Adventures and grabbed the butternut squash instead of the sweet
potato. Happy accident though, as it tasted great. Beef and
butternut squash sandcastle cubes were wolfed down by Niece as were
the sunflower seeds. Though on reflection the Thermos flask
for the soup is probably not the most practical of items. And
thanks to Jolene and Sarah for their Facebook comments suggesting a
food flask - didn't even know these existed and yet a google search
revealed millions of them! I'd still be keen to hear other people
thoughts on taking a soup into school or if anyone has
successfully done so?

Thursday - The Zoo adventureBroccoli trees were a winner even without the dip. Actually
niece wasn't too keen on the dip at all, but I think that was more
down to me being a bit too liberal with the lemon juice. Redid it
at the weekend and it tasted much better, so it could be a case of
giving it another go for niece to get use to the taste. Aubergine
is not something she's tried before, so I might even try this in
other dishes to see what she thinks? Again the 'free from' pasta
got a big tick as well as the fruit - both simple, quick to prepare
and loved by a little one.

Friday - The Picnic adventureEveryone gave the raisin rice cakes a thumbs up. I'd never
made sunflower seed butter before and it certainly won't be the
last - yum! Niece got immense joy from
positioning raisins on top to make smiley faces for everyone -
proud to see her presentation skills are developing ;) She thought
my chicken lettuce wraps were funny looking but it didn't deter her
from munching away at them. I did wonder how well
they would actually keep rolled up on the walk into school? Ah
maybe wrapping them in tinfoil will do the trick (we usually put
her sandwiches in a Tupperware box). The big hit
was the mango hedgehog though, you would have thought it was
Christmas as she watched me prepare it in excitement. Simple,
magical, fun. Nuff said.

Overall it's been a happy and successful week of lunchbox
adventures! Definite favourites: popcorn balls, polenta hay bales,
beef & butternut squash sandcastle cubes, but top of the
list... mango hedgehogs! As always though - room for
adjustments and improvements. A food processor for a start! Look
forward to hearing everyone else's feedback, already I've had some
great suggestions to chat with the Lunchbox doctor about. Or if
anyone has tried the fun craft activities with your little ones,
it's always good hear about those stories too ;)

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